Each fiber artist in the upcoming exhibit, The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Tapestry, looked at this work from the 12th century through a modern and personal lens. Some aspect of the design elements, the materials, the colors, or the image, became the hook for a new work. For Toni Easterson, a graphic designer and fiber artist from Northfield, Minnesota, the man on a horse representing the month of May was captivating. “I immediately wanted to include a woman in my design, a woman on a horse.”
She wanted her piece to reflect her values as a social and environmental activist. She wrote,
I wanted to use scraps and pieces of work done by other women’s hands, old doilies etc. that received little or no respect for their craftsmanship, pieces of fabric that were a part of old dresses and blouses. I have become a repository of fiber things from friends getting rid of their mother-in-laws’ tablecloths, etc. As I approach my work with environmental concerns, I seek to recycle, upcycle and save things from the trash. Old tie-dyed material is used; even the cheek of the rider contains a tiny embroidered rose from a decades-old handkerchief made by a grandmother. I also wanted to turn Then fiber work into Now fiber work. In the right hand bottom corner is quietly embroidered “Me Too” [jeg også] in Norwegian.
More Horses and Protest
“Children March into an Unknown Future,” (H” x W”): 75cm x 100cm; 29.5″ x 39″
Sally has been following the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder from England, and she passed along another wonderful image of a woman on a horse, from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The woman who rode her horse through an Oakland protest wants to see more people of color in a white world.”
The newspaper caption: Noble rides her horse, Dapper Dan, through the streets of downtown Oakland at the start of a protest honoring George Floyd. “There is no image bigger than a black woman on a large horse,” Noble said. “This is the image we would like to see portrayed in our community.”
This exhibit is unfolding during a tumultuous time of pandemic and now protest. Sally Reckert’s piece was originally intended as a march to combat climate change, but in the end became her grandchildren marching into an unknown future. And Toni Easterson wrote,
I was sewing to the ME TOO movement, but it is a protest piece and works any way one wants. Something powerful about a woman on a horse I think. Such difficult times. I say “yeah and go for it,” to the woman leading the march in California!
The exhibit at Norway House opens on June 26. Follow along on the web page for the exhibit, “The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Tapestry, to learn of virtual events surrounding the exhibit.